Photo: Rick Bohn

JAMESTOWN, N.D. (newsDakota.com) – With appreciation and no regrets, Dr. Gary Pearson of Prairie Veterinary Hospital has made the decision to close his doors.

Dr. Pearson says he made the decision in 1983 to build a small animal veterinary hospital by two life passions, one personal and one professional.

“My personal goal was to live in an area where I could enjoy abundant wildlife every day and where I would be able to spend whatever spare time might be available with my Brittanys on the Dakotas prairie with its magnificent heritage,” he states in his announcement. “My professional goal was to provide the highest quality veterinary services possible in a small town in North Dakota.”

Dr. Pearson says a number of clients have been with them since they first opened and they’ve seen several generations of pets, starting as new kittens and puppies and progressing through their lives.

“Over the years, many of those clients have become valued friends,” he stated.

Pearson says with crashing wildlife populations over the last decade and the increasing difficulty of hiring qualified staff to support quality veterinary service have led him to making the decision to close up.

“Coupled with the escalating costs and declining availability and quality of medical supplies that make it increasingly difficult to provide high quality veterinary service at a cost that pet owners in this area are willing to pay, leave me with no realistic alternative at 82 years of age except to close the Prairie Veterinary Hospital,” he says in his release.

The clinic is located at 1305 Business Loop E in Jamestown and has been in operation for 38 years.